Soon to be end of school

School is winding down for the kids and I've been wondering about what the summer will bring for them.  My daughter is about to be a sophomore in high school.  It just doesn't seem like she's that old!  I know she is though, because I have the DVD to prove it.  As a Band Booster, I got a DVD of the football/band season.  It is a great thing!!  I've watched it from start to finish at least once.

My son's about to head for a new school too as he starts the fifth grade.  I was worried about the state mandated testing that both kids had to undergo, but was told by his teacher that I'll get the results on Tuesday (and school is officially out on Friday!!).  He obviously didn't fail because they didn't make him go back for further testing.  I believe my daughter was the same way.

I've got the little guy signed up for football the week after school gets out.  It'll be his first taste of football.  He has been telling us that he's going to be a running back for the University of Texas Longhorns (ummm, he better earn a scholarship!!) so this will give him a small taste of the game.  If he likes it, I'll sign him up for flag football and then move him into a regular football league.  

It's hard to think that in just 5 short days (literally as my daughter will be home early every day!), school is out.  Time to figure out what the summer is going to bring for us.

Summertime...

We have had extremely warm weather for the past several days. My poor plants on the patio are suffering. The kids are charged with watering while we're at work. They're doing fairly well, but we do have to remind them to get busy and water or we won't see any more tomatoes. My tomatoes are mutating. They're turning into more than just a patio tomato. It's almost like they are saying "I DARE you to say I'm JUST a patio tomato!" I love summer for the fresh fruit and veggies. I rather wish I had a house to be able to go out in the backyard and garden out there, but...we're not going to be buying a house any time soon.

I love summertime because it always smells so fresh outside, especially when there's been enough moisture overnight to create dew on the grass. It's fun to walk through the grass barefooted. I miss that with the apartment...it's just not the same. It's been warm enough, as I said before, that there isn't even any dew on the grass. I walked across the grass to my car this morning and didn't even get my toes damp!! If it wasn't so warm, I'd sleep with the windows open because I love to have the night breezes stirring the curtains as I'm sleeping. there is something that is relaxing about feeling the breeze.

Another thing that spells out summer to me is that the swimming pool is always warm and comfortable in the early morning. There's none of the "EEK! COLD POOL!" shock that you inevitably get if you're in a cooler climate. On Saturday, the pool was about 80-85 degrees and was very nice. Aidan and I spent a lot of time (practically all of our time!) in the pool. It felt wonderful. We'll be going again next weekend. We may go on Sunday as well. I am not sure yet. It all depends on how busy the pool is. At the time we went (9:00 am), there wasn't anyone outside.

Who turned on Summer and Martial Arts babbling

Please tell me WHO decided that 99 degrees was a good temperature for May 19th?? Can we say "wicked HOT"?? Yep, it was that kind of a day!! Hotter than Hades (almost) and certainly NOT comfortable!! Very much a "stay inside in the air conditioning" type of day. My office is already at super freeze mode, which means I wear a sweater most of the day, but going out at night, I don't need it. I also won't run the a/c in my car because 1. Gas prices are outrageous and 2. I don't need air until I pick up Aidan from school. HE needs the a/c. Since I'm "old" (2 weeks and I'll be "older still") and get chilled easily, I don't run the air.

Aidan and I went to class tonight. I got Mr. T to work with him on forms and technique. We really worked on his front stances. Since he was in Young Warriors and was bumped up when he reached black belt in there, he's never had the opportunity to correct his stances. Tonight we worked very hard on correcting his stances. He's a brown belt and is just now getting the stance correct. Fortunately, the older Mr. B (he's a third Dan, working toward fourth) was very patient and worked hard with him tonight to help him correct his stances.

I worked on forms during class. I really like doing forms better than I like sparring or some of the other things. The joint locks are fun, the weapons are fun, but I prefer the forms myself. It's somehow soothing and helps me refocus. It's somehow meditative as well as thought provoking. I can turn off my mind and just put myself into the matter at hand, that of doing the forms.
We ran through Kee Cho Hyung Il Bu, Kee Cho Hyung Ee Bu and Kee Cho Hyung Sam Bu, then Pyung Ahn Cho Dan. After that, we worked on Pyung Ahn Ee Dan, then Sam Dan, Sah Dan and then Oh Dan. We didn't work on any of the higher forms, but that's fine by me. I was able to refocus and get my head wrapped around the forms properly. I always mess up and confuse Sam Dan and Sah Dan. I call Sam Dan "Superman". I call Sah Dan "Splat!" I call them so for the way they look when you're doing them. Sam Dan has a move that looks like Superman puffing out his chest. Sah Dan starts out with a "Splat!" to the left, then a "splat" (two open hands, palms outward, one in a high block, one in a low block). I really like those forms. I like Pyung Ahn Oh Dan best though. That one's a fun one.

Next month we're starting a new curriculum at the dojang. We'll be working on Tae Kwan Do instead of Tang Soo Do. I'll still be a black belt, but my forms are now going to change. As it's standing, it'll be interesting to see how things work out for the black belt test in November. I'm supposed to be learning Jin Do, but nobody's worked on that form in several weeks. For my second Dan, I have to know Jin Do and Nahainchi Ee Dan. I just have to start working on them. I'm debating on whether or not I should attend the black belt class tomorrow. If I go, I'm not sure they'll be working on forms or if they'll be working on sparring. I'll have to play that one by ear. I don't know if I want to skip out and stay home or not yet. It all depends on how my day goes tomorrow.

Lessons learned

I think I've learned a valuable lesson. Drink LOTS of water and *never* get on the scale after a day of very low water drinking. I was up 1.5 pounds this morning. I KNOW it's from not drinking enough water. I'm supposed to be making every effort to drink more water. If I drink more this week, maybe I'll see a better loss. I'm back to working out heavy duty now. I can run again. There's a story behind that statement...I tore my left quad a few weeks ago and wasn't able to run. Last night I actually ran for the first time and it didn't hurt! I did lunges too. I can do that without pain now! YIPPEE! I also went out and walked with one of the girls from class on Tuesday. We walked about 2 1/2 miles. It was a good walk. It was hot still, but cooler than it would have been if we'd gone out during lunch. Now that it's full summer in Texas, we're not walking during lunch anymore. We'll wait until the weather cools down in September.